Disclaimer: I received a sneak peek and an early audiobook from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Author: Christopher Paolini

Book Series: Standalone (so far?)

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: f/f romance and side characters, menstruation mentioned, aids like character

Recommended For...: science fiction, Paolini fans

Publication Date: September 15, 2020

Genre: Science Fiction

Recommended Age: 18+ (language, romance, sex and sexual content, gore, violence, death, grief, aliens)

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 878

Synopsis: Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds.

Now she's awakened a nightmare.

During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn't at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity's greatest and final hope . . ."

Review: Well, I'll admit it, I didn't think Paolini would be able to write something as captivating as this was for me considering that I have issues getting through Eragon but I'm so glad I was wrong. Paolini does well with his writing (he's better than JK and less problematic, let's be honest) and he does well to make a world so well developed that I see it in my dreams. The characters are also very well developed and I feel so much for Kira's pain and triumphs.

My only issue with it is that there's definitely a rhythm to the book, a bit slow then fast then slow, but it works for this book. I also had issue with humans being called 2 form when we technically have at least 3 sexes, but I think the book did ok to address that, but I still would have liked to see more. Even though I felt the book didn't do so well in that area, I thought Paolini did well to show a well developed female character with very few tropes and an accurate and loving f/f relationship. Overall, I think it's one of my favorite sci-fi books now and I think Paolini did well for his first book out of a well loved fantasy series.

Verdict: A well done and amazing sci-fi! Highly recommend!